In yesterday’s blog, I said I expected to get a lot of sleep this morning. But then I learned that the inauguration would be shown live here on free-to-air public television, ABC1, so I changed my mind. I set our alarm for three a.m. and crawled out of bed.
I’m glad I did. I’m glad I could. Half a world away, I was there, with most of you, watching as Barack Obama took the reigns and (to use a term common here) “farwelled” George Bush and company.
My experience did have a particularly Aussie flavor. The editorial page of yesterday’s The Australian, a Murdock-owned paper, prominently displayed an article proclaiming Bush to be “a good President and a fine man.” Just below that: a piece about “global warming alarmism.” Who knows, maybe the last view will turn out to be right.
I applaud Obama for the inordinate respect he showed the man he has replaced and I applaud my home country for both the symbolism and reality of the transition of power we all just witnessed. This is, for me, the highest and best meaning of “our flag is still there.”
My experience of these historic events had two Aussie touches. The ABC1 announcer asked viewers here to stay tuned for a documentary on Obama’s life. He called it a fine “doco,” pronounced “doc-o.”
And in a tree near our livingroom window, as the Bushes walked toward the helicopter that would take them away from the center of political power, a flock of kookaburras woke up and filled the air with their loud, manic, laughter-like calls.
It’s still dark here this Wednesday morning, but there’s light and there’s laughter in this world.
I’m going back to bed. Maybe I’ll see the doco another time.
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